They are preparing an Executive Summary of the RAND CLA results by school for the Board of Regents.

In general showed that UT System students do best on critiquing an argument, followed by making an argument.

Students did not do as well at the performance tasks (go through a set of documents and write a report).

The Valley schools did the best at adding value relative to incoming ACT scores.

At this point, the System has a rhetorical task in reporting the findings, not an analytical task.

These results will be important measures of student learning outcomes in the general education area for SACS – important measures, not sufficient measures.

Reduction of Degree Hours to 120

At this stage, the System is not going to focus on reducing degree hours to 120. Even though it is a legislative mandate, implementation is not until 2008, THECB is given leeway to allow additional hours based on academic need and the legislation may be overturned.

A review of overall degree programs and the hours required could be a good way to demonstrate that schools are doing what is necessary to ensure that students graduate as soon as possible.

Redesign of General Education Requirements

At this time there is no system-led initiative to address this issue.

Needs to be a faculty-driven process that would arise out of dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Joint Programs and Joint Appointments – issues for SACS accreditation

Each accrediting body will approach these uniquely. For example, AACSB (business accrediting body) approved UTPB’s program, including their participation in the UT System on-line MBA program. However, UTEP’s AACSB team said that their participation in the program was not in compliance because the UTEP faculty did not control the curriculum.

SACS has indicated that the telecampus MBA program is in compliance.

In general, she does not believe that joint appointments will be an issue as long as the relationship is clearly defined.

General Comments

She wanted us to be aware of the nursing and public health initiatives to build infrastructure to support these programs. Each component should be planning to access these funds.

Texas Tech appears to have been ruled out of compliance by SACS. Tech’s website has some of their responses to the SACS report online.

She is investigating ways to better report graduation rates.
Specifically, she is looking into whether entering freshmen could request admission on a part-time basis. Then, these statistics could be tracked separately; programs could be developed to service this group of students, etc. There would be no barriers to a student admitted as part-time taking a full-course load at any point in their educational career.

Future Items

We will ask to continue to work with Gerri Malandra on future revisions of the Accountability report. In particular the committee is concerned about the high rate of growth in adjunct faculty and want for this to be reported as an accountability measure.

We will continue to monitor joint appointments and joint programs and the ramifications for accrediting.

We will be investigating the BEAR (Break-even Analysis Report) that is surfacing on campuses that appears to be somehow related to the WAG reports.

The committee decided to continue to collect data on Leave Polices for the following types of leave: Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, and Elder Care. The committee divided up the United States into regions and the members will search for policies at: 1) large teaching system or institution and 2) smaller teaching institution, if possible. The committee will be looking at other Texas University Systems and larger Texas Departments (e.g., TxDOT, TDH) for their written policies for these types of leave. A data collection tool was designed during the committee meeting to facilitate data collection from each of these places. In addition, an attempt will be made to locate the contact information for the Women’s Group at each teaching institution/system.

UPDATE:

Mark found tables on the University of California System Web site comparing various institutions leave policies.

Jim found a report on Parental leave in Academia on the University of Virginia Web site and printed copies for the committee members. Attached below is the link to the UVa Healthcare Page (not simply family friendly but a variant on that theme):

ONGOING: Collect retention and recruitment data from identified institutions. Collect adoption benefits data. Barry Bergdorf should be contacted about the legality of paying for adoption benefits. Costs for adoption versus child birth need to be researched.

ITEM 2:

In the past a representative from either Ken Shine or Dan Stewart would attend the committee meeting. A request was made to the Chair of the FAC and an attempt will be made to have representation from their offices at future committee meetings.

CONCLUSION: Richard Saint Onge attended this committee meeting. He felt that the Chair of the committee needed to forward our research information to Ken Shine and/or Dan Stewart.

ITEM 3:

It was brought to the committee’s attention that our currant insurance carrier, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, does not cover tissue typing or transportation of organs for transplantation. We were informed that in some instances these costs could reach the $50,000 dollar range. This item was tabled until the wording of the policy could be located and disseminated to the committee members for interpretation.

CONCLUSION: Ted Pate found that Blue Cross/Blue Shield will cover tissue typing for the donor and transportation costs of organs for transplantation. The search for a donor from a ‘pool’ typically is done by a local agency.

ITEM 4:

Under an interpretation of Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards, a streamlining of by-laws was undertaken at UT-MD Anderson. Under these new by-laws a physician that is accused of inappropriate behavior (e.g., verbally abusive of staff, under the influence, etc.) would undergo a 3 member peer review for further actions. If the physician wished to appeal the peer review, then the chair could appoint a lawyer from within or outside the institution to run the appeal hearing. The faculty is concerned about the potential of a lawyer running an appeals hearing, rather than peer review. This item was tabled until the wording of the policy could be located and disseminated to the committee members for interpretation.

CONCLUSION: A change in the policy and procedures at UT- MD Anderson eliminated the possible appointment of a lawyer to run the appeal hearing

The representative for UT Southwestern, Frank Wians, was unexpectedly unable to attend due to a family emergency. In his absence, an update of events at UT Southwestern was provided by Angela Shoup.

As of the Class of 2007, a passing grade on the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills and Clinical Knowledge examinations will be required in order to graduate from UT Southwestern medical school.

The development and formulation of a final charter for SWAT (Southwestern Academy of Teachers) has been approved. The purpose of the academy would be to enhance medical education, to centralize the approach to biomedical education, and to recognize outstanding educators.

Allied Health – UT Southwestern

UT Medical Branch, Galveston

1) UTMB receives award for innovation in telemedicine:

UTMB’s Electronic Health Network was selected by the National Homeland Defense Foundation as this year’s inaugural winner of the Focus on Innovation Award. UTMB received the award at the Homeland Defense Symposium. This year’s topics addressed defense and security issues of borders, municipalities and infrastructures, as well as hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The National Homeland Defense Foundation was the initiative of a group of Colorado civic leaders to support the post-9/11 defense missions of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command. Together, they created the Homeland Defense Symposium, the premiere national conference that addresses the range of homeland defense and security issues. The Focus on Innovation Award was presented Oct. 26, the last day of the conference.

2) Hurricane Rita Financial Impact:

Two days before the storm, UTMB discharged 177 and evacuated 250 within a 12 hour period for a total of 427 patients.

UTMB estimates that 91 ambulances, 32 helicopters, 5 airplanes and numerous public and school busses were involved in this first full evacuation in the institution’s 114 year history. The day before the storm, approximately 250 employees left campus, 130 of whom evacuated on the 2 C-130’s.

Approximately 400 faculty and staff volunteered to remain in order to provide emergency health care services and preserve vital functions within the institution. On September 27 th the emergency status was lifted and 4 days later the hospital census reached 400 patients.

The $1.6 million in damage to facilities and infrastructure suffered by UTMB excludes potential reimbursement from UTMB’s insurance policy. Additional labor costs for emergency pay, compensatory time, extra shifts, etc. produced an additional $3.1 million towards the costs of the storm. The estimated business interruption costs for the institution were estimated to be around $18.1 million. The total financial impact from Hurricane Rita is estimated to be almost $26 million.

3) CME Outsourced to UTMB:

Now, thanks to a new partnership with UTMB, the complicated behind-the-scenes duties are less of a burden for CME event organizers at the UT-Health Science Center at Houston Medical School. This summer the Houston medical school entered into a four-year contract to outsource CME to UTMB. As a result, UT-Houston medical school faculty members have access to three UTMB employees based on-campus, a robust CME Web site, and “full-conference” services — hotel reservations and on-site services such as audio-visual technicians —provided through UTMB’s CME office. The idea for the collaboration took root more than a year ago, when the Houston school was hosting CME activities in Galveston and contacted UTMB for help. UT-Houston Medical School’s CME office had been scaled back and could no longer provide full-conference services. Meanwhile, UTMB’s larger CME staff had recently enhanced its web site and had begun looking for ways to reach more clients. While working with the UT-Health Science Center at Houston Medical School on this first project it was thought that a permanent partnership might benefit both institutions. It would provide the Medical School with full-conference services, and it would give UTMB an opportunity to expand its CME operation. After more than six months of planning, the collaboration is off to an excellent start.

4) Electronic Medical Record:

In January of 2002 UTMB decided to obtain an Electronic Medical Record that integrates the clinical documentation across diverse medical and geographical environments into a single longitudinal patient record. This record must support UTMB's Research, Teaching, and Patient Care Programs. All ancillary and departmental systems should be integrated with the electronic medical record. Each of these systems should support the department's workflow, resource management, and statistical abstract requirements. In April of 2003 EPIC Corporation was chosen as the vendor for the EMR at UTMB. Another important component of the EMR project, the “EpicCare Inpatient Order Entry” system, began in John Sealy Hospital, on the cardiology units of J7A, J7B and the CCU (on J4B). This is a new electronic method of entering patient orders—noting instructions, requesting tests, procedures, etc. We expect to have EpicCare Inpatient Order Entry in place for the rest of John Sealy Hospital (the Towers) and the TDCJ Hospital in October 2005. Children’s Hospital, R. Waverly Smith Pavilion, Rebecca Sealy Hospital and the Emergency Department are slated to follow in November 2005.

Homework:

Is there a problem with faculty retention on your campus? When other institutions make offers, can and does you institution counter offer? Is there a “brain drain” in Texas? It would be very helpful if you could obtain a report from the Provost/Institutional Planning Office/VP for Academic Affairs detailing faculty departures over the last five years broken down by gender and race.

UTMB (as any thriving institution would) works hard to retain its faculty members and to the extent possible, revisits the conditions necessary to keep a faculty member here. The PDF file contains a report for 2003 and 2004.

What are the procedures and “costs” to buy out teaching time on your campus?

With respect to “buying out” teaching time, there are no “institutional” policies regarding this, and each unit head negotiates teaching loads and “alternate assignments” with faculty. Typically, the cost is associated with the resources needed to find another person to teach the unit or course in question. This varies, since the demands for different courses vary as well as the availability of qualified faculty to teach a given unit. In the School of Medicine a problem exists where if a ‘K’ award is given to a faculty member, this award requires 75% time for research. However, the award only can cover 50% of the salary. To cover the other 50% of the salary, the faculty must work ½ time. In essence, this faculty member is now working at 125% to meet all needs: the School of Medicine and the requirements of the award.

Is your campus Senate or other governance body pursuing creation of an Ombudsman on your campus (if you don’t already have one)?

The Ombudsman office is for students only. At this time, the administration feels that the Grievance processes are protection enough for the faculty.

What is your campus policy on putting people on probation and/or disciplinary (administrative) leave?

There is no institutional policy for placing faculty on probationary or administrative leave. Sanctions against faculty members for breaches of Regent’s Rules take various forms. If a faculty member is credentialed and the issue is clinical, then the Medical Staff Executive Committee would deal with the matter under the terms of its rules. For other faculty, applicable sections of the Regents Rules and Institutional Handbook of Operating Procedures set our general guidelines. Each case is determined on its own merit, and the sanction would ultimately be determined by the President based on a process involving due process of the faculty member’s rights for a grievance hearing or tribunal. In some cases, faculty members are placed on administrative leave with the concurrence of the President when it is in the interest of the institution to do so. Sometimes this involves an inquiry into allegations, other times there is a delay in verifying credentials or other issues related to safe, legal practice or potential liability. The President ultimately is the only person authorized to make such decisions.

Is there evidence that an effort is made to define “base pay” and “at risk pay” on your campus? (Note that this is primarily for the academic institutions as the answer is clear for the health campuses – the effort, not the definition.)

Purpose:

-Reward optimal faculty performance

-Maintain and enhance faculty excellence

-Provide a systematic basis for annual compensation

1) School of Medicine Core salary: determined according to rank

40K – Assistant

51K – Associate

67K – Full

2) Specialty/Discipline-specific salary: based on faculty contribution to departmental mission; American Association of Medical Colleges guidelines will be used to establish benchmarks.

UT Health Science Center, Houston

Recovery from topical storm Allison Stanly Schultz, the Dean of the Medical School announced at the Faculty Senate that the campus had now completed its recovery from topical storm Allison. Most apparent to the visitors, the recovery involved the installation of storm doors at several places throughout the campus, a new plaza with eating areas and new plantings between the library and medical school, and new classrooms and clinical skills learning laboratories in the medical school.

Campus involvement in Hurricane Katrina recovery effort Tulane University t-shirts and sweat shirts are frequently seen as we walk from one end of the UTHSC-H campus to the other. Students and faculty alike have welcomed public health undergraduate students and medical students in their clinical years and residents to their midst. Some faculty are also housing these students. As reported previously, the UTHSC run medical/dental unit at the George R. Brown Convention Center shelter was very successful and included participation by a large number of faculty, students, residents and staff from throughout the Health Science Center.

New building initiatives The new research facility - the first building the Medical School has constructed in the last 30 years – is well underway on the site of the now demolished John H. Freeman Building, adjacent to the Medical School Building. The Dental Branch, which is celebrating it’s 100 th anniversary this year, is still planning to construct a new building on our south campus, although the lack of TRB funding is delaying this project.

Format for involving faculty in IFC and Faculty Senate issues (questions to administrators)

Both the Inter Faculty Council and the Medical School Faculty Senate have adopted a new format for stimulating discussion with the administration. Prior to each meeting, questions are submitted by an assigned subcommittee to the administrators who respond to the questions. This format allows the administrators to know beforehand what concerns the faculty most and to develop a response before the meeting. Topics such as faculty evaluations and faculty funding have been presented in this manner.

Medical School Dean Has Open Heart Surgery Medical School Dean, Dr. Stanley Schultz, had emergency heart bypass surgery on 11/29/05. The procedure went well and he is reported to be resting comfortably. Dr. Michael McKinney will assume Dr. Schultz’s responsibilities until he is able to return to work.

Home Work Questions

Is there a problem with faculty retention on your campus?

MEDICAL SCHOOL

Full-time Faculty Departures

By Gender and FY

FY

Women

%

Men

%

Total

% Total

1998-99

24 (222)

10.81%

62 (433)

14.31%

86 (655)

13.13%

1999-00

37 (212)

17.45%

56 (432)

12.96%

93 (644)

14.44%

2002-03

28 (199)

14.07%

60 (448)

13.39%

88 (647)

13.6%

2003-04

27 (198)

13.63%

47 (447)

10.51%

74 (645)

11.47%

2004-05

31 (293)

10.58%

58 (502)

11.55%

89 (795)

11.19%

* (xxx) Denotes total faculty

See attached Power Point Presentation

When other institutions make offers, can and does you institution counter offer? It varies by school and by availability of funds, but it does occur.

Is there a “brain drain” in Texas? It would be very helpful if you could obtain a report from the Provost/Institutional Planning Office/VP for Academic Affairs detailing faculty departures over the last five years broken down by gender and race. See attached Power Point presentation.

2. What are the procedures and “costs” to buy out teaching time on your campus? The Medical School has a formula for distribution of teaching dollars to departments. (Not sure about other schools.)

3. Is your campus Senate or other governance body pursuing creation of an Ombudsman on your campus (if you don’t already have one)? No. This function is performed by an associate or assistant dean at some of the schools.

4. What is your campus policy on putting people on probation and/or disciplinary (administrative) leave? UTHSC-H has a policy on Standard of Conduct (see link below) that allows for disciplinary action (including probation) depending on the circumstances. Included in the policy are very specific guidelines for conduct and what to do (see link below).

5. Is there evidence that an effort is made to define ”base pay” and “at risk pay” on your campus? (Note that this is primarily for the academic institutions as the answer is clear for the health campuses – the effort, not the definition.)We have attempted to understand the approach to base pay of faculty. The faculty have been concerned that grant support is an essential part of each faculty member’s responsibility to guarantee funding. The latest annual contracts have been written in a manner to more clearly identify what is base pay and what is supplement for each faculty member.

Assistant VP for Academic Administration: Dr. Robert Kaminski (From UT Houston Dental School) will be joining us in January 2006. He comes to us from University of Maryland, prior to this he was at UT-Southwestern. He is a graduate of Baylor, School of Medicine

Director, Academic Center for Excellence in Teaching – John Littlefield, current Director of Academic Informatics Services, will shift 50% of his time to take on the directorship of ACET.

We are currently expanding current criminal background checks to FBI checks. There may be school-specific differences, depending on credentialing requirements.

New Initiatives:

Medical and Research Campus (MARC):

President Cigarroa will seek approval from the Board of Regents to move forward at its November meeting for final approval. The MARC is scheduled for completion in the last quarter of 2008. The building will be approximately 180,000 square feet.

SACS accreditation activities: We continue the massive preparations for the SACS accreditation site visit in two years. Increasing involvement of many individuals campus-wide can be expected.

Institutional Strategic Planning:

As mandated by the UT System, we are beginning a process by which a Strategic Plan is created for the next 5 years. This plan will outline realistic goals and objectives, with careful attention paid to methods of measuring success, as well as to assign accountability. An annual process of reporting progress made will be created, landing ultimately in the offices of each of the Executive Committee members. In addition, Dr. Chiang’s office will maintain a website that will make public the plans and the progress.

The new Vice President for Research presented his new organizational chart and personnel. Some of the goals of his office include:

- Develop research space allocation policy- all indications is that an income-based formula was being developed to allow for space allocation

- Develop a 5-year Research Strategic Plan

- Develop new strategies to enhance philanthropy

- Increase clinical research

Dr. Michael Lichtenstein, Professor and Director, General Clinical Research Center is developing the support needed to apply for the new Clinical and Translational Science Award. This will be a major endeavor for our campus.

Homework:

Is there a problem with faculty retention on your campus? When other institutions make offers, can and does you institution counter offer? Is there a “brain drain” in Texas? It would be very helpful if you could obtain a report from the Provost/Institutional Planning Office/VP for Academic Affairs detailing faculty departures over the last five years broken down by gender and race.

Answer: We perceive there is a retention problem. See table for actual percentages. The former Executive Vice President for Academics and Health Affairs told the Senate that every attempt is made to retain faculty if it is known that they have other offers. In reality, it is up to the department chair whether or not a counter offer is made to keep faculty.

FY

Women

%

Men

%

Total

% Total

Year

Women

%

Men

%

Total

% Total

2000

33 (372)

8.87%

45 (682)

6.59%

103(1054)

9.77%

2001

51 (358)

14.24%

70 (668)

10.47%

121 (1026)

11.79%

2002

36 (387)

9.30%

58 (666)

8.70%

94 (1053)

8.92%

2003

60 (378)

15.87%

75 (658)

11.39%

135 (1036)

13.03%

2004

49 (382)

12.82%

54 (673)

8.02%

103 (1055)

9.76%

By Gender and Calendar Year

(xxx) denotes total number of faculty

2. What are the procedures and “costs” to buy out teaching time on your campus?

Answer: There are no “institutional” policies regarding this that I could find. Each department chair negotiates teaching loads and “alternate assignments” with faculty. Typically, the cost is associated with the resources needed to find another person to teach the unit or course in question. This varies, since the demands for different courses vary as well as the availability of qualified faculty to teach a given unit.

3. Is your campus Senate or other governance body pursuing creation of an

Ombudsman on your campus (if you don’t already have one)? Answer: The Senate and Committee for the Advancement of Women and Minorities sought the development of the Ombudsman role simultaneously and then together. An Ombudsman was named this year. The President sees it as more important for staff because there are other avenues for faculty such as Grievance processes already in place. The Ombudsman is not called this, but rather is called an Advocate.

4. What is your campus policy on putting people on probation and/or disciplinary

(administrative) leave? Answer: There is an institutional policy for “Procedures For Discipline And Dismissal Of Employees” for placing personnel on disciplinary or administrative leave. This policy lists all personnel excluded from this policy and faculty are not listed. There is a specific grievance procedure for challenging this action.

5. Is there evidence that an effort is made to define “base pay” and “at risk pay” on

your campus? (Note that this is primarily for the academic institutions as the answer is clear for the health campuses – the effort, not the definition.) Answer: Our policy has been forwarded to Dr. Shine’s office but has not been approved yet. I have not seen it but I believe our last Senate Chair has seen it.

UT Health Center, Tyler

Faculty retention: Faculty retention in research has not been a problem so far. The institution does make counter offers to retain faculty.

Buying out teaching time: Not applicable. Teaching load at the UT Health Center, Tyler is very low.

Creation of Ombudsman: At present there are no efforts to create an Ombudsman on our campus.

Probation and disciplinary (administrative) leave policy: UT Health Center at Tyler does not put an employee on probation or administrative leave for disciplinary reasons. There is a maximum of 5 days of suspension from work.

UT Health Center at Tyler secured its first program project grant from the National Institutes of Health. The $ 7.8 million grant was awarded to study lung fibrosis by a team of researchers headed by Steven Idell, MD, PhD., Professor of Medicine and Vice President for Research. The Health Center’s annual fund- raising gala, “Mission Possible: Where Discovery and Healing Come Together” was held on October 27, 2005. It was attended by nearly 1000 people and about $ 80,000 was raised to fund research on lung injury.

With significant input from the Faculty and Senate, the search for the QEP for the SACS Reaffirmation of Accreditation of UTA in 2007 has ended! The UTA QEP is “Active Learning.” At this point, the working definition of active learning is:

“…a process that employs a variety of pedagogical approaches to place the primary responsibility for creating and/or applying knowledge on the students themselves. It puts the student at the center of the learning process, making him/her a partner in discovery, not a passive receiver of information. Active learning requires students to interact with and integrate course material by reading, writing, discussing, problem-solving, investigating, reflecting, and engaging in such high-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and critical thinking. An active learning approach draws upon such teaching and learning strategies as question-and-answer sessions, short in-class writing exercises, simulations, team learning, student research, internships and community service, clinical placements, and problem-based learning.”

A Faculty-majority QEP Steering Committee is being created with the Senate being represented by its Chair. Again with significant Faculty and Senate input, the QEP Steering Committee will oversee the drafting of the final QEP Plan in 2006 to be submitted to SACS in January 2007.

UTA/University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Cross Collaboration:

After an exchange of their presidents for a day in October, UTA and UTD have created an initial $250,000 pool to stimulate collaborative research projects between members of their faculties. All proposals well undergo peer review at both institutions.

Senate Transition to Calendar Year:

Especially for important reasons on continuity across the summer, when Faculty grievances often run their courses, the Senate has completed its thirty-month transition from the school year to the calendar year. As terms expire, officers and senators now will be elected by December to begin their terms in January. At the November Senate meeting, John Priest was re-elected Secretary and Toni Sol was elected Parliamentarian. She also will become the alternate FAC representative. Previously elected Chair-Elect Daniel Formanowicz will serve as Chair for two years and out-going Chair Dennis Reinhartz will serve as Past Chair for one year. A new Chair-Elect will be chosen in November 2006.

Major Faculty Senate Activities, 2004-2006 (18 months):

~Transition to calendar year completed

~Restoration of 5% ORP deficit

~Significant input to strategic planning

~Significant input to SACS reaffirmation planning

~Completion of online Faculty Handbook.

~Study of administrator raises and perks (continuing)

~Work on Academic Receivership Policy (continuing)

~Initiated study of Faculty turnover and retention problems

~Initiated study of teaching evaluation process

To Do List:

There may be. The Senate is in its second year of studying the problem.

Up to, but not to exceed entire teaching load may be bought out on at a per course rate determined by dividing the number of courses into the total salary.

No. The Faculty and administration seem satisfied with the Senate Chair acting de facto in this capacity with regard to Faculty matters.

Record UTB/TSC enrollment figures were reported for Fall 2005. Our overall head count was 13,306 students, a 15.1% increase over the year before. Total credit hours taken were 119,156, which represents a 10.1 % increase.

This includes an increase in UTB upper-level students of 15.2%, attributable primarily to more transfer students and better retention. It also includes a substantial rise in dual enrollment, in which 1,993 students are now participating. These account for 7,591 total credit hours, an increase of 191.8% over Fall 2004. Graduate enrollment for Fall 2005 was down by 2.4%, mostly attributable to declines in School of Business enrollment.

In August 2005, the UT System Board of Regents approved the addition of doctoral degrees to the UTB/TSC mission statement. On November 10, the Regents approved preliminary planning authority for a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in bilingual education. The planning authority document will now be sent to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

College of General Studies

Our Dean of Developmental and General Education has proposed a new College of General Studies that would serve as an academic home for students who are undecided as to their major. The new unit would be responsible for: overall coordination of the Developmental Education Program, assessment of the General Education Core Curriculum, and direct administration of the Developmental Reading Program.

A General Studies Degree would allow students to design their own areas of study, to concentrate on fields or combinations of fields where no traditional major is offered, and to prepare for interdisciplinary graduate study. Dean Phillips noted that many state-supported universities in Texas have a similar General Studies or University Studies College, School, or Division.

Capital Projects

A total of $25 million has been allocated for construction of a new Wellness, Recreation and Kinesiology Center. The issuance of Texas Southmost College District Wellness Center Revenue Bonds was approved, and the bonds sold at a favorable rate, allowing for a $120,000 per year windfall, which can be used for building maintenance. A joint venture between the firms J. E. Dunn and Terry Ray Construction was selected as Construction Manager for the Center.

On November 4, the architectural firm of Kell Muñoz was selected to head the $17 million re-design effort for our satellite International Technology, Education, and Commerce (ITEC) Campus. The firm’s vision for ITEC includes the use of historical architectural motifs for re-facing the building, plus the creation of a distinctive landscape involving resacas, levees, recreational paseos, and a 70-foot high grassy knoll.

Commencement Ceremony

We are currently revising our commencement ceremony, which is too long, impersonal, and uncomfortable. Many graduates and their families depart the moment the diploma is received, emptying the audience.

The revised commencement ceremony involves two separate events. The President and vice-presidents, TSC Board members, deans, distinguished guests, faculty representatives, and degree recipients will attend the first. It is climaxed by the presentation of candidates by the deans, the conferral of degrees by the President, and a recessional.

The second event is presided over by the deans. Attending will be a senior member of the administration, a TSC Board member, and faculty attached to that College/School. The ceremony opens with a processional, and includes a speech by the Dean and a speaker designated by the students. It is climaxed by the awarding of diplomas.

Grievance Process

In October 2005, our university grievance process was used for the first time. As called for in our HOOP, the President of the Academic Senate convened the members of the Grievance Panel, which received a briefing on procedures and the specifics of the case from the university attorney. A tribunal was selected by the President and the Senate President, and the tribunal subsequently heard the case. Specifics of the hearing have not been made public, but it is understood that the grievance was resolved amicably.

Early Childhood Literacy

Professors Veronica Galvan-Carlan and Renee Rubin, Curriculum and Instruction, described their Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program Grant. The 3-year grant included $4.8 million from the Department of Education, plus another $4.8 million in in-kind matching funds.

The purpose of the grant is to build local capacity among early childhood educators to meet the diverse educational needs of children from 0-5 years of age, and help them become ready for school. This will be accomplished by having UTB/TSC faculty instruct 15 trainers, who in turn will instruct and mentor 900 Early Childhood Educators in day care centers and families in Cameron and Willacy counties. More than 8,000 young children will ultimately be served.

Homework Questions

Is your campus Senate or other governance body pursuing creation of an Ombudsman on your campus (if you don’t already have one).

Faculty retention has not been a significant problem at UTD over the past 5 years. The university is generally proactive in trying to retain faculty it considers important to its mission. Below is a breakdown of faculty departures over the last five years by gender and race (excluding retirements).

F04-F05

Male

Female

Asian

Black

Hispanic

Professor

3

1

Assoc.Prof

1

1

Ast. Prof

3

1

2

F03-F04

Male

Female

Asian

Black

Hispanic

Professor

3

2

Assoc.Prof

2

2

Ast. Prof

4

1

3

F02-F03

Male

Female

Asian

Black

Hispanic

Professor

4

Assoc.Prof

Ast. Prof

2

2

F01-F02

Male

Female

Asian

Black

Hispanic

Professor

2

Assoc.Prof

1

1

1

Ast. Prof

3

3

1

1

F00-F01

Male

Female

Asian

Black

Hispanic

Professor

1

1

1

Assoc.Prof

3

Ast. Prof

5

2

There is no university-wide policy on buying out teaching time. Individual schools implement their own approaches. Usually the teaching load can not go below 1+1.

The recently completed draft strategic plan calls for the creation of an Ombudsman position. President Daniel plans to distribute the draft plan to all stakeholders in the near future. At this time, there is no Ombudsman; senate committees cover some of the usual tasks of an Ombudsman.

The Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual details procedures for disciplinary action including disciplinary leave, administrative leave (with pay) pending investigation of charges. The term “probation” is used mainly for students in academic difficulty. The Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual and the Policy on Faculty Conduct discuss procedures for oral/written reprimands which serve a similar role to probation (since continued non-compliance may lead to termination).

5. There are no efforts to define ”base pay” and “at risk pay”.

Other News: $2.5M approved for infrastructure needs. New M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Criminology approved. UTD to focus on improving Alumni giving. Search committee for Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics formed. Policy on Academic credit for Military service formulated. Resolution in support of TCFS regarding the suspension of the Academic Senate at TAMU-Kingsville approved. Procedures for the UTA-UTD Joint institutional Seed Research program formulated. Policy on criminal Background checks for faculty having contact with minors updated. Student survey on scheduling and committee recommendations forwarded to Provost. President Daniel to chair ASCE external review panel on hurricane protection system in New Orleans.

At the October 2005 Senate meeting, Provost Dr. Richard Jarvis addressed the Senate and made a presentation about UTEP’s QEP, success in the middle years. In essence, the report will examine steps that have and will be taken by UTEP as it seeks to improve the academic experience for students who move past the freshman year. Dr. Jarvis asked if the Senate would be willing to form two work groups to study two crucial issues of the QEP, academic advising and curriculum. The Senate voted unanimously to accept the offer and within a week and a half two groups of senators and faculty formed. Their work was completed in mid November and their work will be presented to the Senate for review and approval at the December meeting.

Both reports are noteworthy because they involve one of first times in recent memory that the Senate has taken a look at two crucial components of undergraduate academics. Moreover, the recommendations are both bold and far reaching in that they both call for significant and ongoing reform. Two brief examples will serve as examples. The Academic Advising Workgroup strongly urged even closer ties with the academic advisors from the El Paso Community College be strengthened so that the transition between the two institutions is smoothed out. The Curricula workgroup recommended evaluations of curricula be continuous and ongoing.

Tuition Increase

For the past few years a Tuition and Fees Advisory Committee composed of students, staff, and faculty has made recommendations to President Natalicio about how much tuition and fees should be increased. The group met over the past month and a half to discuss and again make recommendations. It was noted that a 5% increase in tuition would be needed just to keep pace with rising costs. The committee initially approved a $12.50 per credit hour increase for the Fall 2006 semester and an $11.70 per credit hour increase for the Fall 2007 semester, a 7.5% and 6.5% increase for each respective year.

Forums were held in each of the six colleges to update students how the past increase was spent, present the current proposal and plan for expenditure, and seek input and opinion about the proposal. Afterward, the committee met to discuss the input from the forums and vote on a formal recommendation. The above increases passed unanimously.

Faculty Evaluations of Administrators

The faculty evaluation of administrators, chairs, deans, and the provost, is usually administered during the Fall semester of odd numbered years. We were unable to do that because the Center for Institutional Evaluation, Research, and Planning, the administrator of the survey, had too much work to do in the preparation of research for our SACS re-accreditation. It will be administered one week after the start of the Spring 2006 semester. Faculty will be allowed to complete the evaluations either online or via hard copy. The evaluations of each administrator are two pages long. Page one consists of multiple choice responses and the second page contains written comments. A new written question asks the respondent to provide an overall assessment of the assistant deans.

The To Do List

Faculty retention. It’s well recognized that UTEP faces problems with faculty retention. I was unable to get a copy of the data regarding departures, but the common perception among the faculty is that the low salaries are a lure that other institutions can and do use. Lately UTEP has tried to counter offers made by other institutions, but this is only a fairly recent development.

Buying out teaching time. The two major instances that involve the buyout of teaching time are for administrative purposes and grants. In the first case, there is no written procedure. The faculty member assumes the position and the salary comes from that office or agency. Regarding grants, the bulk of the decision making takes place within the college. If the faculty member has the grant in hand the usual procedure is for the department chair to write the dean requesting the buyout; approval is determined there. There are times when the funding organization wants a demonstration that the institution is supportive of the research. In such cases negotiation takes place between the dean and the faculty member. The standard practice of late has been to use adjunct or part-time faculty to fill those vacancies.

Ombudsman. I discussed this issue with President Natalicio last year. She said that she had no problem with it in principle as long as a firm justification could me made for creating the position. We discussed it as a Senate and the feeling was that one of the Committee on Academic Responsibility, Privilege and Ethics is empowered to serve in the capacity of an ombudsman.

Probationary/Disciplinary Leave. There is nothing written in the Handbook of Operating Procedures about this. But if a faculty member could be placed on probationary or disciplinary leave it would be as a result of action taken by the Committee on Academic Responsibility, Privilege and Ethics. The Committee would hold a hearing and then make a recommendation to the President.

Base Pay or at Risk Pay. I spoke with human resources and was told they are not working on this.

The system approved our new workload policy, according to which tenure/tenure-track faculty will be moving from 24 to 18 hours teaching workload/academic year effective next semester (Spring 06). Associated with that reduction, higher merit performance expectations/guidelines were proposed by the administration and reviewed by the faculty senate. The load for lecturers will remain 24 hrs

Based on the President’s initiative and recommendations of a Faculty Senate Taskforce, a new college governance structure should be implemented by the end of this Fall. The new structure is sought to enhance shared governance at the college level through the creation of college councils and adoption of college bylaws.

Faculty Sponsored Evaluation of Administrators: the Faculty Senate will be administering an evaluation of administrators in early Spring 06 (Our Faculty senate conducts such evaluation every three years). In this evaluation, each full-time faculty member will be evaluating the President, Provost/VPAA, and his or her respective Dean. Of course, it will be an anonymous survey with serious measures taken to ensure complete confidentiality. Information will be gathered from scale responses to be electronically tabulated and then reported as percentages to the Faculty Senate and then to the general faculty. Additional space will be provided for writing comments by faculty who may wish to do so. However, such written comments will not be announced and will be confidentially delivered to the corresponding administrator by the Senate Chair.

The following HOP policies are currently under review by Senate Ad HOC committees: Faculty Grievance, Procedure for Selection of Academic Deans and Periodic Performance Evaluation of Tenured Faculty (post-tenure review).

The University is considering moving away from paper printed class schedule to an electronic online one. That will save the university ~ $40,000-50,000 in printing cost per year; it will also make it easier for departments to get updated information to students.

A cost of Education committee, formed by President Cárdenas and led by VP for Business affairs and student government President, has made recommendations for increases to designated tuition, mandatory and incidental fees. The recommendations have been presented to all university constituents for feedback. According to which, designated tuition will be increasing to $87/SCH by 2008 (versus current rates of $46 at UTPA). In comparison to other comparable institutions, our tuition and fees rates will still be competitive.

To Do List

Is there a problem with faculty retention on your campus? When other institutions make offers, can and does you institution counter offer? Is there a “brain drain” in Texas? It would be very helpful if you could obtain a report from the Provost/Institutional Planning Office/VP for Academic Affairs detailing faculty departures over the last five years broken down by gender and race.

FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

A&H

11

4

3

5

6

2

11

5

5

2

BA

4

2

5

0

0

0

3

1

2

0

ED

7

6

4

4

4

2

7

1

0

2

HS&HS

1

0

3

5

1

6

4

3

0

2

S&E

12

1

7

0

3

2

5

2

1

0

S&BS

3

0

1

0

3

1

2

2

0

0

Total

38

13

23

14

17

13

32

14

8

6

We do have a counter-offer pool. The chairs would approach the dean, the dean would approach the Provost on anyone offered another position or higher salary somewhere else. If there is a request to counter offer there may be some negotiation with the faculty member on conditions of continued employment here.

What are the procedures and “costs” to buy out teaching time on your campus? We have a form for faculty to submit requesting workload adjustment and specifying the source (account #) to cover the buy out. Besides the faculty member, the form carries signatures of the Chair, Dean and Provost. The cost for buying out a 3-hours course has been 1/8 of the 9 month salary (based on a 24 hours/year teaching workload). With the implementation of the new 18 hours /year teaching workload, it is still unclear how this will play out!

Is your campus Senate or other governance body pursuing creation of an Ombudsman on your campus (if you don’t already have one)? Two years ago, the issue was discussed and the administration was supportive back then. The issue has not been pursued since then!

What is your campus policy on putting people on probation and/or disciplinary (administrative) leave? There is no policy other than a general HOP policy for leave of absences for staff and faculty.

Is there evidence that an effort is made to define “base pay” and “at risk pay” on your campus? (Note that this is primarily for the academic institutions as the answer is clear for the health campuses – the effort, not the definition.) This has never been a problem or an issue for our campus!

Our NAIA men’s basketball team beat NCAA Division I opponent Texas State University, but I have to admit lost to UTEP and to UTA.

Homework:

(comments from the Provost in bold, my comments in italics)

Is there a problem with faculty retention on your campus? When other institutions make offers, can and does you institution counter offer? Is there a “brain drain” in Texas? It would be very helpful if you could obtain a report from the Provost/Institutional Planning Office/VP for Academic Affairs detailing faculty departures over the last five years broken down by gender and race.

Actually, we do keep a running count on the number of faculty members that leave the university. It is attached. Do we have a problem? You can make a judgment. We lost 7 out of 110 full-time faculty last year. Of these four were faculty who went to other universities, all out-of-state. I'd be careful with passing this list around a group since it contains names. You might want to give the FAC summary data.

I would simply report that we have had what looks to me to be fairly low turnover in faculty. 6% (roughly) is probably pretty good “retention” on our part.

Our basic action to fight this is to try to keep salaries from getting too out of line with market peers. We have given 4% faculty salary increase pools in recent years while giving 3% pools for staff. The result is that when you compare our tenure-track faculty salaries by rank and discipline to the CUPA-HR averages, UTPB is 6.5% below market. Three years ago we were 8.5%. I can remember a time when we were 14% below market.

We have offered "counter" offers in some cases when faculty members have said they have offers from other schools. It is rare. We really have to want to keep the person. My basic saying is, "don't bring me an offer from another school you are not willing to accept." We have, however, upped a salary to keep a person when he or she is really important for some goal.

What are the procedures and “costs” to buy out teaching time on your campus?

The first question is, "What is the source of funds?" If it is from the University, we pay the department the replacement cost of the faculty member (the adjunct salary). After all, all of the funds budgeted to the position are university funds anyway.That is, when we give a person what amounts to “unfunded” release time.

If the funding is external, we charge at 25% of the semester salary for a semester release if we are talking a tenure-track faculty. For lecturers that are on a 15 hour load we would charge 20%.That is, when the person had outside funding and is “buying out” some time.

Is your campus Senate or other governance body pursuing creation of an Ombudsman on your campus (if you don’t already have one). No. At this point, I think, the personnel director fills this role but does not have the title. I do know we looked at this last spring in the Senate and the Faculty Affairs committee recommended we not pursue it as it would raise overhead. I am not entirely sure I agree with that; in fact I do not. Has any thought been given to this “upstairs”? This is a continuing issue with FAC and has been popping up ever since the Chancellor said he thought it a good idea. I believe the Senate’s view is that there is no rush on this one so long as we maintain a reasonable grievance procedure as I think we have.

What is your campus policy on putting people on probation and/or disciplinary (administrative) leave? There is nothing about this in the HOP in the faculty section, but there are two references in the general personnel section which (partially at least) apply. One section seems clearly aimed (because of its language) at the non-faculty employee but does not explicitly exclude faculty. The other section deals only with unethical research behavior (falsification of data and so on) and so does seem to apply (mostly) to faculty. There is a separate section dealing with disciplinary suspensions of coaches of the intercollegiate athletics teams.

Is there evidence that an effort is made to define “base pay” and “at risk pay” on your campus? (Note that this is primarily for the academic institutions as the answer is clear for the health campuses – the effort, not the definition.) Neither the Provost nor I are aware of this issue ever having arisen here.

Growing pains are catching up with UTSA and as a result serious attention is now being directed towards capping student enrollment in the coming years.

Lack of space continues to be a detriment to development and growth. UTSA is still 700,000 sq ft short and is looking for innovative ways to deal with the rapid need for classrooms, labs, and office space. Next year $100 million dollars of new construction will begin at UTSA, which will include the expansion of Student dorms, University Center, and Recreation Center. No monies have been allotted for academic buildings.

There will be no new faculty hires this year beyond the 25-30 replacements for retirement and movement to other institutions.

There is currently a serious debate on campus on the preferred size of UTSA. The consensus is on having a student body in the 30,000-35,000 range.

Issues currently in the Senate:

Administrative Leave

Grade inflation.

Appointing administrators on an interim basis and then made permanent without searches

A University wide search committee has been finalized to review applicants for the now vacant position of Provost and Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs. The committee has already developed and approved of the advertisement, which has been posted in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The University will conduct a national search for his replacement.